Headphones are based on a full range driver that has to cover the whole audio frequency band. But developing and making a driver that can reproduce audio from say 20Hz to 20Khz with the minimum amount of gain loss at the extremes of the frequency spectrum isn't easy or cheap. So on cheaper drivers you can expect a gain loss in the bass and treble. Designers would select a suitable driver response for whatever market position the headphone is aimed at. So a more bass heavy driver would be used in say a bass heavy headphone.

In the case of cans such as the HD800 the driver is better engineered. So it has a better frequency response in the upper frequency range compared to your common variety ( read: cheap) set of cans. But few would have heard cans with less treble loss. This generates the impression that the HD800 is brighter or that the treble response is somehow incorrect. But far from it. If you own a high-end set of speakers and compare the high frequency detail from the speaker against the HD800 you'll find very little difference in the additional information that you hear. Compare that to a cheaper set of cans and soon you'll get the hang of the HD800.

The HD800 really is for people with excellent speakers. They are more likely to appreciate the similarities in terms of what can be heard.

I think this sounds quite reasonable.

I have JBL 4310s at home and one really does appreciate the clarity and sound staging the HD800s are able to provide.
It has been said that the HD800 is picky about what it is being fed by and the recording of the music.

I should note; if the HD080s are not being fed adequate power, they will take a long time to break in (least that is how it was for me. I don't know if my setup is enough for the 800 (but they sound frigging amazing and I am happy my setup works) but my HD800s recently finally "broke in" and WOW. After a year of owning them this whole extra layer just came in and swept the sound field.

The HD800 really is for people with excellent speakers. They are more likely to appreciate the similarities in terms of what can be heard.

If you experience some fatigue related to treble , then I consider there's a treble emphasis.

I'm not implying it's a bad experience, but it certainly explain why people would recommend the hd800 more for classical.

I guess, it's hard to set the treble to the right amount, because head-related transfer function vary a lot from one people to an other above 7k (see this interesting thread : Do we hear all alike or different ).

I tried to equalize the hd800 , but finally concluded it's not worth it: playing with headphone position is enough, and eq mess up easily their clarity.

Lot of people here seem to enjoy recessed highs because it's less fatiguing and more forgiving (see other cheaper sennheiser headphones, hd650 and below, and I guess lot of other popular models).

I did actually phone them last year but am unable to remember of find the details. I had half a notion that the info was in a thread here in HeadFi but am not able to find it. I apparently failed to make a note of that data in a place I would be able to find it a year later!

Perhaps these people know what they're talking about, "With this modification, 8 solder points and four mechanical contacts are eliminated!" I know this from my own testing over the years, even one extra solder joint in the signal path has been easily audible and best deleted, hence why I want to direct wire. A recent couple of tests with amplifiers and loudspeakers demonstrated the improvement of soldering the speakers wires direct to the amplifier PCB and speaker crossovers, missing out all the brass terminal posts. That brass was found to confer upon the sound harsh, nasty, shrill, grainy, too bright, splashy, blurring, muddled, masking detail and subtle nuance. I also did it with deleting the RCA chassis jacks and plugs with similar results but also the bass was so much more clear and informative.

My concern with their HD800 arrangement is what looks like a lack of really strong strain restraint.

I use sold silver wire with mine and whilst it can be very awkward to use and live with, it's worth it for the sound quality. It breaks easily when bent and pulled, so I need to affix it to something solid before the voice coil tags.

I'm thinking at the moment about longer Torx bolts and nuts holding down another bracket with the wires under or in. I've just determined that these are smaller than M3 threads but don't know what yet.

Are you going to use a Mundorf silver/gold wire and solder? Are you going to measure the resistance and match it afterwards?

• It's easily reversible, about 10 minutes per side or so.

• Might increase the value if there is known to be an improvement.

• Mundorf, no. I'm using my own silver wire. From about 1994 I used to make and sell PTFE sheathed 99.99% hard drawn solid core silver wire for interconnect and speaker leads. This year I've been trying some varnished 99.99% silver wire for myself and a couple of friends, acquired more or less direct from the foundry. I'd like to try some of that single crystal stuff but I'm not inclined to pay Hi-Fi sellers asking prices. Both Siltech (by their other name) and Mundorf use gold doped silver and it's softer sounding apparently, I've not tried it. However, just with my own stuff I made at 9 different configurations for one listening test about 10 years ago and they all sounded different. Greater thickness of PTFE has a not nice effect, possibly why the varnished is better. I and friends have tried stuff from eBay sellers and all sounded different, worse than mine by all opinions. But the new varnished stuff has been felt to be better in all cases. It costs me about £7.00 per metre, so £28 or so per stereo meter, which is a bit shocking really as it was £1.70 per meter three or four years ago, but the price of the base metal has gone up that much. I'm not currently selling cables commercially, it's more of hobby at the moment.

• Matching the resistance of the 4 equal lengths of silver wire (two twisted pairs) has no effect all. But there is a big difference in sound between 0.5m and 3m though, with 3 being dull, constrained, rather lifeless and generally disappointing. This goes for interconnect and loudspeakers, I've not tired it for headphones yet.

• I am, and have been for nearly 20 years, using TRT Wonder Solder as I found it flows and sets well and re-soldering DAC boards with it sounded better than the ordinary tin lead stuff. I may try the Cardas again as I had a sample and under the microscope, that I had to use to wire the HD800 plugs, it looked to have set very evenly. There's probably little to chose between these alloys, maybe they're both tin, lead, silver, copper. The lead free Wonder Solder is new to me and harder to use, especially to unsolder, but I read someone had re-soldered all their Hi-Fi systems joints with it and was impressed at the improvement so I thought it was worth a go.

• Mundorf, no. I'm using my own silver wire. From about 1994 I used to make and sell PTFE sheathed 99.99% hard drawn solid core silver wire for interconnect and speaker leads. This year I've been trying some varnished 99.99% silver wire for myself and a couple of friends, acquired more or less direct from the foundry. I'd like to try some of that single crystal stuff but I'm not inclined to pay Hi-Fi sellers asking prices. Both Siltech (by their other name) and Mundorf use gold doped silver and it's softer sounding apparently, I've not tried it. However, just with my own stuff I made at 9 different configurations for one listening test about 10 years ago and they all sounded different. I and friends have tried stuff from eBay sellers and all sounded different, worse than mine by all opinions. But the new varnished stuff has been felt to be better in all cases. It costs me about £7.00 per metre, so £28 or so per stereo meter, which is a bit shocking really as it was £1.70 per meter three or four years ago, but the price of the base metal has gone up that much. I'm not currently selling cables commercially, it's more of hobby at the moment.

• Matching the resistance of the 4 equal lengths of silver wire (two twisted pairs) has no effect all. But there is a big difference in sound between 0.5m and 3m though, with 3 being dull, constrained, rather lifeless and generally disappointing. This goes for interconnect and loudspeakers, I've not tired it for headphones yet.

• I am, and have been for nearly 20 years, using TRT Wonder Solder as I found it flows and sets well and re-soldering DAC boards with it sounded better than the ordinary tin lead stuff. I may try the Cardas again as I had a sample and under the microscope, that I had to use to wire the HD800 plugs, it looked to have set very evenly. There's probably little to chose between these alloys, maybe they're both tin, lead, silver, copper. The lead free Wonder Solder is new to me and harder to use, especially to unsolder, but I read someone had re-soldered all their Hi-Fi systems joints with it and was impressed at the improvement so I thought it was worth a go.

Hi mate!

You should contact the Head-Fi's staff so you get a MOT-status with all that it implies...

It doesn't imply anything. It says I used to manufacture and sell silver speakers wires and I don't now.

I read the pre-registration blurb and I've been reading stuff on here for a couple of years. I saw that it's a commercial site rather than a purely community forum and very keen to look after and protect the interests of it's advertisers.

It would be very nice if it had a much better search engine though.

Anyway, I seem to have got what I came for, found out there's very few people doing direct wiring and I have to make up my own means of affixing wire directly to these headphones rather than be able to purchase some ready made fixings.